The Rs 6695-cr Mumbai-Pune E-way missing link to be ready by December; project, which includes one of India’s tallest cable-stayed bridges and two of the world’s widest tunnels, will save motorists up to 25 minutes
One of the two tunnels that comprises the Mumbai-Pune Expressway missing link. A record 23 metres in width, these underpasses will be connected every 300 metres
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway missing link project, which will help motorists bypass the Lonavla-Khandala ghat section, is expected to be completed by this December. Tunnelling work for the project has been completed, and work on a 170-metre-high cable-stayed bridge — among the tallest in the country — is progressing at a rapid pace. The two tunnels that comprise the link are 1.75 km and 8.92 km in length and 23 metres in width, making them among the widest in the world.
At 170 metres in height, the cable-stayed bridge is as tall as a 45-storey building. Pics/MSRDC
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anilkumar Gaikwad said, “The work of the Mumbai-Pune missing link project is progressing at a fast pace, and we are expecting to complete the entire work by December this year, following which the stretch will be opened for motorists. One of the most challenging aspects is constructing the cable-stayed bridge whose height is equivalent to that of a 45-storey building.”
Mega project
The work on the Rs 6695 crore project started in 2017, and it was expected to be opened to traffic in March 2024. The length of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway section from Khopoli exit to the Sinhgad Institute of Technology in Lonavla is 19 km. The distance between these two spots will be reduced from approximately 20 km to 13 km after the construction of the missing link, and the current travel time by 20 to 25 minutes, especially during the monsoon season, when the stretch is highly congested.
Graphics/Suhas Kale, Yogesh Jain
Every 300 metres in both directions, the tunnels will be connected to ensure traffic is not affected during emergencies. As part of the work, the expressway is being widened after the Pune end of the Khalapur toll plaza. After this, motorists will travel via the bridge and tunnels, which will pass 150 metres below the Lonavala lake. The missing link will meet the expressway after the Sinhgad Institute of Technology.
The under-construction cable-stayed bridge of the missing link. At 170 metres in height, it is roughly as tall as a 45-storey building. Pics/MSRDC
Traffic situation
The 94-km-long cement concrete Mumbai-Pune Expressway has six lanes with 2.5-metre-wide paved shoulders on both sides. National Highway No. 4 (NH-4) from Shil Phata to Dehu Road is a four-lane bituminous pavement with a length of 111 km.
Viaduct cable stayed bridge
Mumbai-Pune Expressway and NH-4 meet near Khalapur toll plaza and separate near the Khandala exit. The section from Adoshi tunnel to Khandala exit is a six-lane road, but the traffic accommodated by the combined 10 lanes of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and NH-4 now plies this section. In addition to heavy traffic, landslides cause congestion on this stretch. As a result of this, in order to save time, vehicles are driven at a faster speed on the rest of the expressway, resulting in accidents.
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